Category Archives: Austria
Classic
Bosch, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
Logo, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
I promised I’d upload more photos from our Saturday morning excursion to the Ennstal Classic Car Rally, so here goes! It’s almost 10pm now, the day has flown by and I’ve been busy with my first day of the challenge.
But back to classics for a moment: Saturday’s event is pretty famous if you are in the “know”; all sorts of cars from very vintage MGs, Mercedes, and BMWs, but also some Audi Quattros which were looking very “Back to the Future” and sorta cool in that 80s way. A few “real” race cars made their appearances too, alongside cars with leather pouches and straps to keep the front hoods down. The people were just as eye catching to observe: lotsa’ attitude, sunglasses, jeans and suede driving moccasins was the uniform of the day. All cool stuff. I’ve been meaning to replace my mocs come to think of it…..
MG
MG, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
It’s sometimes mind boggling what one can accomplish before Noon: walked the dogs at 6:30, coffee an hour later when Bumpy woke up, run the dogs, do the dishes, put on makeup, get in car and GO! Where to? To the Ennstal-Classic Rally of course, silly!
And so there I was surrounded by an incredible assortment of beautiful vehicles driven by beautiful people — what to look at first?! I just hate that when that happens! Don’t you?
This gorgeous weather we’ve been having becomes slightly uncomfortable as the morning hours pass and the mid-day sun gathers strength. But, grab a Coke and meander amongst the display from a designers’ dream. It was hard to choose which auto we wanted to drive home — we thought we’d leave the final choice to O&M.
I’ll post some more pics hopefully tomorrow, and as I fall asleep tonight, I’ll remember what a girl can do before Noon (note to self: more heli rides!)
188
188, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
One thing I admire about the older generation of country people is how well they care for their things. Unlike in other countries where farmers ensconce themselves in air-conditioned-bubble tractors, here a good old red tractor still does the job. It can be green too. No stereo, no TV. If it rains, they open up an umbrella!
I’ll work on getting some more of these beauties on film, for now: here’s a larger view.
This was really good….
Dessert, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
…and I ate it all (with some help!). The sun is back and we’ve arrived in Schladming, home to World Cup skiing and more incredible vistas. With meals which end like this, thank goodness there are plenty of hiking trails around!
Bye Bye Oetztal
Perfect Valley, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
Adios, Au revoir, bye to Oetz! We left yesterday morning and headed East/Southeast and into the Steirmark region. Landed in Schladming: a charmning Austrian town and home to numerous World Cup skiing events.
Just wanted to leave you with a lasting impression of what a perfect setting can look like. Moo!
Yackity Yak
Yackity Yak, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
These totally adorable yaks were meandering between the road and a stream, and merited a few photos. They’re pretty small (even the adults with the big horns), but the little ones aren’t much bigger than O&M! The tiniest of them looked like a little fur-piglet or pre-water gremlin! I think they’d make a great pet, can you imagine walking one on a line in Central Park?!
Oetztal has it all.
Oetztal, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
From mountain peaks, to waterfalls, to rivers and everything else in between: Oets Tal has it all. I was up to 3048 meters yesterday with a spectacular view of the “tal” (mountain valley), which runs 60 kilometers. Oskar and Maya loved playing in the snow, even though their “paddies” were a little cold!
It was tempting to go into Italy for the afternoon, stock up on some vino, but there were a few too many motorcycles out on the road and we have the rest of the week, if not longer. It’s really sort of cool to think you can just “jump” from country to country!
Good Night Moon
Good Night Moon, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
This was too beautiful a scene not to try to capture it; so I pulled out for the first time my “Gorilla” tripod so I could get a long shutter speed (0.5 sec, 100 ISO at f3.2).
Hopefully you too can see how the moon looked like a luminescent pearl sitting atop a little cloud, floating in the periwinkle blue sky…
Joseph’s Hands.
Joseph’s Hands, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
Joseph hands tell stories: stories of milking cows in the dark winter mornings, of holding his wife when she was young and they danced at a summer ball, of the figures he carves out of wood. He nearly died after a felled tree crushed him, leaving Joseph in a coma for weeks. His daughter suggested he take up wood carving to bide his time as his body healed. He creates some beautiful pieces; I think before we leave I’ll ask him to carve me an angel…
Still waters run deep, originally uploaded by On Linden Way.
As we drove up the dirt path heading into town, we passed Joseph wandering in the fields, binoculars hanging around his neck from a worn leather strap.
“What are you looking for Joseph?”
“Stars”, he replied, the corners of his mouth betraying the trace of a smile.
“But Joseph! You can’t see the stars at this time of day!”
“Ah, but you don’t know what stars I am looking for!”
